COM Functions in PHP4 (Windows)

The built-in COM functionality of PHP4 is quite attractive for some of us programming in the win32 environment. So far, there is not much documentation on the subject. This short article will explain how to use COM in real PHP4 programming with three examples using MS office 2000 Word and Excel programs and the Adobe Distiller program. The COM technology has been developed by Microsoft for several years, under different names. As far as this article is concerned, the words OLE, OLE Automation, ActiveX and COM are all the same: They designate an encapsulated piece of code (the Object) that performs some functions for a windows application. PHP4 COM connects to the object (Instantiate the object) and uses its methods and properties.